The book presents a study of - legal, illegal, and incarcerated -
African immigrants in Germany. Participants responded to a selection of
scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2),
the Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ) by Schwartz, and a measure of
acculturative stress. Acculturative stress and German racism emerged as
strong predictors of poor mental health, with problems becoming worse
over the years of stay in Germany. Particularly among 'economic
refugees' a precarious job situation and family fragmentation added
grossly to acculturative stress. As John W. Berry, the nestor of
acculturation research puts it in his epilogue: «What can only help is
an increase in basic hospitality: Making African immigrants welcome in
their new home is needed, not a bulwark Europe.»